Explaining Variation Among State Constitutions

In this episode, scholars Nicholas Cole and Robert Williams examine how American constitutional democracy is rooted in the crafting of Revolutionary-era state constitutions. Beginning in May 1776, Americans gave independence meaning by writing state constitutions, experimenting with self-government, and rooting political authority in the people. Cole and Williams explore this critical and often overlooked chapter of the founding era and how these early state constitutions shaped ideas about rights, government, and limits on power, helping to define the nation’s constitutional tradition and set its trajectory for generations to come. Julie Silverbrook, chief content and learning officer at the National Constitution Center, moderates.

Resources

• Nicholas Cole, Quill Project 
• Robert Williams, The Law of American State Constitutions (2023) 
• Constitution of New Hampshire (January 5, 1776) 
• Constitution of South Carolina (March 26, 1776) 
• Constitution of Virginia (June 29, 1776) 
• Constitution of New Jersey (July 2, 1776) 
• Constitution of Delaware (September 10, 1776) 
• Constitution of Pennsylvania (September 28, 1776) 
• Constitution of Maryland (November 11, 1776) 
• Constitution of North Carolina (December 18, 1776) 
• Constitution of Georgia (February 5, 1777) 
• Constitution of New York (April 20, 1777) 
• Constitution of Vermont (July 8, 1777) 
• Constitution of South Carolina (March 19, 1778) 
• Constitution of Massachusetts (June 15, 1780) 
• Constitution of Vermont (July 4, 1786) 
• Marbury v. Madison (1803) 
• Alison L. LaCroix, The Interbellum Constitution: Union, Commerce, and Slavery in the Age of Federalisms (2024) 
• Gordon S. Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 (1998) 

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